


stay

by adietxt



Series: ‘a softer world’ prompts [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 13:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10491780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adietxt/pseuds/adietxt
Summary: "You know," Sanji tells him over a glass of beer, subdued and pensive in a way he usually isn't without alcohol, "you can always leave."Zoro acknowledges him with a grunt, and nothing else.





	

**Author's Note:**

> From [50 A Softer World Prompts](http://sleepy-skittles.tumblr.com/post/155287327552/50-a-softer-world-prompts):
>
>> I don't know what the fuck true love even is but I do want to hang out with you for basically the rest of my life. (Let's hang out — TO THE DEATH.)

"You know," Sanji tells him over a glass of beer, subdued and pensive in a way he usually isn't without alcohol, "you can always leave."

Zoro acknowledges him with a grunt, and nothing else.

It's the last day of the week-long party celebrating the finding of One Piece, and tonight, the Strawhat will be disbanded. They are family — they still will be, regardless of what happens next — but there's also an unspoken agreement that they will go their separate ways. Nami still has a map to draw. Chopper's panacea means nothing if it isn't given to those who need it. Franky, Robin, and the others have all found places they could call home, while Luffy has places to go to — he always does, because he's  _Luffy_.

And the cook — Sanji is staying. Here, at the sea that makes a home for any living beings that call it one. It's almost fitting, really, that Sanji, who was born at the sea and lived on the sea, would choose to spend the rest of his life at the mother of them all. The All Blue.

Zoro himself has everywhere and nowhere to go; with Mihawk defeated, the Greatest Swordsman in the World is now a title he bears, not chases. People will come after him no matter where he goes, whether it's his hometown back in East Blue or the highest of the Sky Islands. He can leave. He can. Or —

"I can also stay," he finally says.

Sanji chokes on his drink.

When Zoro looks up from his glass, Sanji's face is bright red, and they both know it's not from the alcohol.

"You're drunk," Sanji accuses.

"When have I ever," Zoro fires back.

"Do you even hear yourself," Sanji says, and he sounds like he's still choking on something, even though he's stopped drinking. "What are you even trying to  _say_."

Zoro looks back down at his glass. What  _is_ he trying to say? He's never good when it comes to this... _thing_ he has with Sanji, not on the first day he decided to find out what Sanji's lips tasted like years ago, not today. He doesn't understand romance, not the flower bouquets or the sweet-nothings, but he understands  _Sanji_ , who in turn probably knows Zoro better than he knows himself.

So he says, "this place is good." And, "I don't care about being anywhere else." And, "someone has to make sure you're still training instead of wasting your life away in the kitchen." He says the last one with a smirk.

He's still human, though, and he is allowed his rare moments of insecurities, so after a moment he looks seriously towards Sanji and asks, "do you want me to leave?"

Sanji whips his head up, spilling some of the alcohol from his glass as his body jerks upright. " _No_."

"Good," Zoro says. He picks one of Sanji's hands from the table and holds it in both of his own. His thumb rubs over the back of Sanji's wrist, his fingers curling against Sanji's palm. "Then I'll stay."

"Okay," Sanji says, and doesn't pull his hand away. "Okay."

 


End file.
